Invasive species threaten Florida

JAY ERNDL

A rhesus monkey from the colony that lives along the banks of the Silver River in Marion County reaches into the water as observers glide by. The monkeys were released in Marion in the 1930s and have been sighted as far as Seminole and Orange counties. Medical researchers have kept rhesus monkeys semi-confined on 2 Florida Keys. They can pass disease to people.

A rhesus monkey from the colony that lives along the banks of the Silver River in Marion County reaches into the water as observers glide by. The monkeys were released in Marion in the 1930s and have been sighted as far as Seminole and Orange counties. Medical researchers have kept rhesus monkeys semi-confined on 2 Florida Keys. They can pass disease to people. (JAY ERNDL)

A rhesus monkey from the colony that lives along the banks of the Silver River in Marion County reaches into the water as observers glide by. The monkeys were released in Marion in the 1930s and have been sighted as far as Seminole and Orange counties. Medical researchers have kept rhesus monkeys semi-confined on 2 Florida Keys. They can pass disease to people.